St. Petersburg Times reveals it has cut staff by 6 percent in recent weeks

Executives at the St. Petersburg Times have revealed the extent of the job reductions at the company, saying that the staff was reduced by about 6 percent in recent weeks. The bulk of reductions should be completed by now, but officials would not release specific names of those laid off.

The story to be published in tomorrow's newspaper, is below:

The St. Petersburg Times has reduced its full-time workforce by about 6 percent, company officials said Wednesday.

The recession – particularly a drop in national advertising this summer – has prompted new expense reductions at various newspaper companies.

The Times began eliminating some jobs about six weeks ago and left other positions vacant. Last month the company also announced that full time staffers would see their pay cut 5 per cent for the next five months, with 5 additional paid days off in return.

Times officials declined to identify specific job reductions, but said most jobs came from operations, which handles printing and delivery, and the newsroom.